Mana Mushrooms

Without naming organizations, the biggest challenge I had with approaching this grant and other symbioses in Pennsylvania was that the recaptured energy, in the form of electricity, would need to be purchased; "If we help you recapture something you're currently wasting, why should we BUY it from you?" I understand there are economic incentives for most actions, but this one was a tough mental barrier for me. Provided I bring funds for equipment to the table, I would much prefer to share the consequently recaptured energy than spend out of pocket for energy I helped recapture.

Advantage Grant

Special thanks to Joshua for helping take us down this road. It was a great learning experience for all involved.

This site is a resource for determination of substrate components by chemical composition which may help mushroom cultivators, ruminant ranchers, and farmers with feed constituents better evaluate the relative values of their inputs. My hope is that re-thinking such relationship webs will add value for all constituents.

Of particular interest to me at this time were:

1) Peanut Hulls: 8 1.5 62
2) Brewer's Dried Grains 27 6 15
3) Brewer's Wet Grains 4 1 4
4) Corn 7 3 3
5) Grain Sorghum (Milo) 8 2.5 3
6) Wheat Bran 15 3 10

The numbers above (sorry their a bit mushed) represent Minimum Crude Protein, Minimum Crude Fat, and Minimum Crude Fiber, respectively.
1 is of interest because I developed a relationship with a producer of this byproduct in Massachussets, where I look forward to implementing if I can demonstrate success with the model.
2 and 3 of interest because of several relationships developed with brewers, ranging from local brewpubs and microbreweries in MA and CO, to regional breweries in Chicago, to Coors, based in CO.
4 is of interest because I understand, especially after seeing the documentary King Corn that it is the primary feed constituent in the United States
5 is of interest because I have been told it makes a great supplement for a sawdust substrate
6 is of interest because I currently use it as a substrate component, as recommended by Paul Stamets and others.

Office of TX State Chemist

I have experienced success in cultivating some kind of mushroom. It looked early on as if it was going to be a typical oyster mushroom and then developed into something different. It may have gotten contaminated at some point or parasitized by some gremlins. Unless the spawn I recieved was mislabeled, the base of the growth ought to be Pleurotus ostreatus, or the typical tree oyster mushroom / white oyster mushroom.

Carbon dioxide and/or temperature and/or humidity levels may have something to do with the developmental oddity. These are certainly not oyster mushrooms as I know them. Please see the photos attached to this blog post for details.

I will also seek a new strain for comparison and continue the 'blank' trial, already in progress, which is testing to determine the efficacy of the strong pH solutions against municipal water. It may be that the substrate material is sufficiently clean to not necessitate further sterilization. If this is the case, we can eliminate the CIP fluid handling, which is a labor, time, and energy intensive process relative to using basic tap water, already on site. To clarify, CIP fluids still represent an appealing alternative to heat pasturization. Transporting them and coordinating pickup with a busy brewer has been daunting, and if it is an unnecessary step (i.e. the substrate can be inoculated directly), let's get rid of it. I'm not out to handle materials for the sake of doing so. If CIP fluid rinses reduce contamination rates, which it stands to reason they would, facilities co-located with a brewery would be an excellent implementation scenario. Until this process is proven and demonstrated to partner satisfaction, it is unlikely that this scenario will play out.

I have it on Gunter Pauli's word that this process has been completed in Namibia and in Japan (Shinano brewery). Gunter is the Founder of ZERI (see links section), and a mentor of mine. He indicates that Namibia stopped their process in 2002 and that Shinano is still making bread with some of their spent grain, but does not have an active mushroom cultivation program since the passing of the late owner. I am looking further into this and will report more as I have it, here. The bread angle is an interesting one. I was fortunate enough to be in the same ZERI course with the owners of SKA Brewing, a brewery located in Durango, CO. Jeff, the Master Brewer there, treated us with some bread made with some of his spent grain It was fantastic! This model seems most appropriate for relatively small-scale breweries, due to the spoilage possibilities of spent grain and the consequent properties transmitted to the bread, which, though great fresh, apparently does not keep well. This seems to be different, from Erzquel brewery, however, who I believe offered a series of byproduct-related goods, including bread -- a great way to spread the brand, for sure!

I will soon be working with a liquid inoculation technique that will provide for significant relative increases in amplification of spawn. Before November, I will also be making more additions to the links section to provide site visitors with more content. Thanks to those of you who have made suggestions and inquiries; these dialogs have prompted more research on my part and will yield more appropriate information for this community. Not the least of which research led me to a couple of mushroom videos which I purchased and found to be excellent sources of information for the home cultivator. I will soon put these nuanced methods to work and report on results, probably before the end of the calendar year and most likely through this blog and a series of appropriate links.

CPF&A

Around May I disappeared off the face of the map in Boston and reappeared in Chicago. Since then, I've been busy organizing my life and setting up for the next stage of Mana Mushrooms: more tinkering. Most of this is happening in my garage, which I've retrofitted to be a lab space.

I have had two mushroom cultivators visit and give their stamps of approval and other input: Carmenza Jaramillo and Eric Rose. Carmenza works with a womens' cooperative in Colombia, and seeks markets in the US to distribute their fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms. She and I discussed the possibilities and have moved a few steps closer to making this a reality for her. My goal is to match her with distributors here in Chicago and manage the relationship during the initial stages, provided the whole process can be carbon neutral or better. Their process is already a leapfrog improvement on traditional cultivation methods: they use spent coffee wastes from an adjacent dehydrated coffee manufacturer.

I work a couple days each week for Eric, who hails from Burlington, WI, where he has a wonderful farm: http://www.rivervalleykitchens.com. Among his other crops, he grows portabellas, cremini, white buttons, oysters, and shiitakes. In additon to the 2 markets I work for him, he maintains a presence at 25 others! In addition to learning about the utilization of other wastes and the closed-loop CIP cultivation process, Eric has also expressed interest in pursuing some of the co-planting strategies outlined in Paul Stamets' Mycelium Running.

Both of these people are doing great things and I look forward to helping their continued success.

Part of that effort will be continuing the research I began in Boston. Goose Island has agreed to provide me with sample waste byproduct fluids and spent grain and we continue to enjoy the support of an established relationship with PMOR - Thanks, David!

I know I've been quiet for a while... that's all changing. I will continue to blog here about Mana Mushrooms-related activity and about other stuff at http://www.2people.org. I also continue to work onhttp://www.lowellbellew.com and dot org. Thanks for your patience to those of you who have been waiting for news!

Last night I finished framing out two cultivation rooms in the garage. I'm excited and making great progress. Come along for the ride!!

CPF&A
Justin

from the Pakistan Journal of Nutrition (2004), this is one of the best articles I have found on yield performance on different substrates. Although it is no substitute for some of the literature available in print, it’s a far sight shorter and free :)

Oyster_Yields_on_Different_Substrates